Diet & Exercise

[dragnsfire]

So, my past attempts at exercising have not been very fruitful as my ankle keeps bothering me more and more to the point that I simply cannot keep up with the workouts.  I have acquired a couple DVDs with Yoga and Pilates in the hopes that although they are not high impact workouts, they will still help me on the course to losing weight and being

Comments

[felinaefelis]

I've dealt with similar issues due to lower back pain. Pain definitely demotivates when it comes to exercise. Yoga worked well for me to get my body moving again, but I don't think it's so useful by itself for weight loss. It's better for strength and flexibility. Aerobic exercise would help you lose weight faster. I suggest swimming, because you won't put any weight onto the ankle. I find it boring compared with other forms of exercise, but it will definitely give you a good workout.

[dragnsfire]

If I actually had a schedule where I could go to a community pool, I would so do that. Unfortunately, being on a graveyard schedule and sleeping during regular hours doesn't leave me very many options. Though I'll look into other low impact things. I think if I start losing at least a little weight it might help my ankle not be quite so bad, though I do need to see a doctor about it.

[dragnsfire]

Actually, I just thought of something. You do a lot of biking, how hard do you think that would be on my ankle? Maybe I can find an inexpensive bike to go around on for now if it isn't so bad.

[felinaefelis]

Your schedule probably makes a lot of things hard that the rest of us take for granted. :(

Biking will be less hard on your joints than running or walking is, but since the ankle will be bending and unbending over and over, you'll definitely work the ankle. But since you'd also be putting less weight on it and the motion is different from when you're walking, maybe it wouldn't be too bad. Maybe there's a shop around there where you can rent a bike and try it out a few times before buying one.

I did find that when I was biking a lot I was able to keep my weight under good control. This last year was bad because of my back, but I'm ramping up my miles again and it feels great! In the winter time, you could use a bike trainer, which is a device to which you attach your regular bike in order to convert it to a stationary bike. This is boring as h*ll, but at least it gives you a pretty cheap way to exercise when the weather is poor.

[dragnsfire]

Well, my ankle really only hurts when walking/jogging or when I move it at a certain angle. Otherwise I never even notice it. I can rotate it around, flex and point and move it however I want to (with exception of one position) without any pain. I think I'll see if there's a place I can rent a bike and try it out. I haven't been up on a bike in years so it'll at least (hopefully) be fun. :-)